Improvement in magazine-guns



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED- SWINGLE, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TC HIM- SELF ANDFRANK A. HUNTINGTON, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN MAGAZINE-GUNS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 137,392, dated Afril 1,1873; application filed November 28, 1871.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED SWINGLE, of San Francisco, county of SanFrancisco, State of California, have invented Improvements in RepeatingFire-Arms and I do hereby declare the following description andaccompanying drawing are sufcient to enable any person skilled in theart or science to which it most nearly appertains to make and use mysaid invention or improvements without further invention or experiment.

My invention relates to that class of smallarms known as repeaters 5 andit consists, first, in a sliding breech-block of novel construction, ashereinafter described, which is operated by means of the trigger-guardso as to drop down and receive a cartridge from the magazine .orcartridge-barrel, and then be lifted so as to carry the cartridge in aline with the bore of the barrel in the proper pos ition for beingfired; secondly, in a safety arrangement to prevent accidentaldischarge, consisting of a pin passing through the hammer and catchingin a suitable socket or recess,as hereinafter more particularlydescribed.

In order to more fully illustrate and explain my invention, reference ishad to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specilication, inwhichy A represents a section of the barrel of any gun or pistol whichis' intended to carry a ball.

The bore of this barrel is made slightly oval` or elongated in onedirection, and this oval is carried to the muzzle spirally, similar tothe twist of the rides in the ordinaryrifled barrels. In connection withthis bore, I prefer to use a round ball as being the true missile foriirearms; but a conical ball can be used, if desired. In firing the ballwill be swaged into the oval bore by the explosion of the powder, and becompelled to follow the twist of the bore, in the saine manner that therifles in the ordinary barrel guides the ball so as to impart to it arotary motion through the air; or an ordinary ried barrel can be used,if desired. The barrel A is iixed in the end of the square metalstock-frame B, and is provided with a magazine or cartridge-barrel, c,which extends along its under side, as shown. The metal stockframe B isa single casting, which is properly chambered and grooved to receive theoperating mechanism of the gun. A square pas` sage, D, is madevertically through the frame B back of Athe barrel A in which a slidingbreech-piece, E, is operated to alternately supply a cartridge from themagazine and remove the shell after the charge has been red. Thebreech-piece E is provided with a bore, d, which will be directly inline with the bore of the barrel A when the breech-piece is raised toits proper position, and on its under side is a deep channel, c, whichcommunicates at its forward end with the magazine or cartridge-barrelwhen the end plate f is lifted, in the manner hereafter described. Oneside of the breech-piece E is provided with diagonal cross-grooves g andg', and an upper and lower horizontal groove, h h. The horizontalgrooves h h as they approach the diagonal grooves at the rear end of thebreechpiece C are gradually made shallower, so as to form an inclinedplane in that direction, and to provide a square shoulder along the lineof the diagonal grooves, so as to guide the pin which moves them in theright direction. A triangular-sWitch-bar, i, is pivoted forward of thecrossing point of the diagonal grooves, and is provided with atrippinghorn, j, at each corner of its base, by which its movements arerendered automatic. This bar serves as a gate to close the passage inone direction and guide the operating-pin along the diagonal grooves,for the purpose of raising and lowering the breech-piece. Thetrigger-guard K is provided with a suitable hand-hold, as shown, and isarranged to turn about the screw Z as a fulcrum. An arm, M, extends upinto the interior of the metal frame B, and is secured by a pin and slotto the rear end of a sliding bar, N, which extends forward in a channelin the side of the frame, and which is deep enough to communicate withthe .mor-

tise D. A iiat spring, o, is fastened to the inside of this bar, whichhas a pin, p, at its extremity as shown. This pin, when the bar is movedback and forth by the trigger-guard, traverses the channel along theside of the passage D, and moves in the grooves g g It h', in the sideof the breech-piece, and moves it alternately up and down. The forwardend of this bar is provided with a downward-pro. jeoting claw or catch,q, which moves back and forth in a slot in the side of the maga-l zinechamber, so as to push a cartridge backward into the bore d, when thebreechpiece is depressed, each time the bar is thrown back and` forth bythe trigger-guard. rIhe firingpin 1' passes longitudinally through asmall cylinder, S. The forward end of this cylinder is provided with anenlarged head, t, which is formed into a screw, and which turns in asocket so as to pass through into the passage I). A groove, U, is madealong the side of this cylinder, which is formed into a cam after itpasses its middle. An arm, V, eX- tends upward from the sliding bar, N,vfrom the end of which a pin, W, depends, so as to traverse this grooveand partially revolve it at each throw of the bar N. In order to renderthe hamlner X perfectly secure and prevent its going off by accident,apin, y, passes down through it just in front of the thumbpiece yf,which has a shoulder extending to one side, as shown. A recess, Z, ismade in the ledge Z', against which the hammer works, into which thisshoulder is held by a spring when it is desired to carry the gun athalf-cock.

By depressing the pin with the thumb at the moment of cooking the gun,the shoulder is released from the recess and the hammer alv lowed tocome to the full-cock; when the hammer is released from the full-cock,the shoulder will pass the recess Without locking, the movement of thehammer being too quick to allow it to catch. Another recess, Z, is madein the ledge Z, in the proper position to receive the shoulder of thethumb-piece y when the hammer is drawn back to the full-cock. A C'-shaped bar, 8, is pivoted at its middle behind the hammer, in such aposition that while one end passes forward under the screw upon whichthe hammer works the opposite end is just back of the thumb-piece y.This end of the lever is formed into a wedge, 9, as shown. A verticalplate, vl0, -is held by a spring, 11, in such a position that as thehammer is thrown back the plate will be lifted until the trigger catchesupon the shoulder 12. Upon pulling the trigger vso to release it fromthe shoulder 12, the spring 11 will throw the plate 10 downward againstthe end of the C-shaped barS, and by moving it about its pivot forcethe. wedge 9 under the shoulder of the thumb-piece y, so as to free itfrom the recess Zll and fire the gun. A screw, 13, is set in front ofthetrigger, by means of which the plate l() can be adjusted in order togive a light or strong catch upon lthe shoulder l2, as desired.

The method and operation of my repeating arm are as follows: Thecartridges are placed in the magazine by holding the gun with its barreldown and dropping one at a time into the channel e on the under side ofthe breechpiece; then by sliding it forward a spring, 5,

isthrown back so as to release the end plate f and allow it to belifted; this reveals the opening into the magazine, which can be thenreadily lled. When it is desired to load the gun after firing, thetrigger-guard K is thrown forward and back so as to drop the breechpieceC to its lowest position 5 this I denominate movement No. l. The samemovement being repeated causes the claw q to push a cartridge from themagazine into the bore d, thus forcing out the shell of the dischargedoartridge into the channel in the rear of the depressed breech-piece andsubstituting in its place the loaded one. and also lifts the breechpieceto its proper position with the cartridge in line with thebore of thegun; this I denominate movement No. 2. The forward movement of the leveror trigger guard also causes the cylinder S to be given a quarterrevolution. This revolution turns the screw-head t backward so as toretract the cylinder and free the empty shell, and after the loadedoartridge has been brought to its proper position the backward motion ofthe-trigger guard revolves the cylinder in the opposite direction, andcauses it to move forward against the butt end of the shell and press ittightly against the rear end of the barrel in order to Y make a tightjoint and prevent any leakage of the gases.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

l. The breech block E, provided with the diagonal grooves g g andhorizontal grooves hlt/,in combination with the horizontally-moving pinp, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The switch-bar z' having the trippinghorns 7', in combination withthe breech-block E having the diagonal grooves g g and horizontalgrooves h h', substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The horizontal sliding bar N, provided with the pin p, claw q, andarm V with its pin fw, in combination with the trigger-guard Kwith itsarm M substantially as and for the purpose above described.

4. The cylinder S having an enlarged screwhead, t, and having the'cam-groove U incombination with the stud W operated by means of theslide, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

5. In combination with the hammer X, the pin Y, with its shoulder, incombination with the ledge Zl having arecess Z arranged to be depressedby the act of cooking the gun, substantially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto sot my hand and seal.

ALFRED SWINGLE. [L s] Witnesses:

W. F. BINGHAM, J. L. BOONE.

